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Write for Rights 2021: Zhang Zhan | Amnesty Australia



CONTRIBUTION IN ORIGINAL LANGUAGE

Write for Rights 2021: Zhang Zhan

When Wuhan - then the center of the Covid-19 outbreak in China - went into lockdown, Zhang Zhan was one of the few citizen journalists to report on the unfol ...

When Wuhan - the center of the Covid-19 outbreak in China at the time - was locked down, Zhang Zhan was one of the few citizen journalists to cover the looming crisis.

Determined to bring the truth to light, the former lawyer traveled to the besieged city in February 2020. She went on social media and reported how government officials arrested independent reporters and molested families of Covid-19 patients. Citizen journalists were the only source of uncensored firsthand information about the epidemic.

Zhan went missing in Wuhan in May 2020. The authorities later confirmed that she was being held by police in Shanghai, 640 km away. In June 2020, she went on a hunger strike to protest her detention. In December, her body was so weak that she had to go to court in a wheelchair. The judge sentenced her to four years in prison for "starting disputes and provoking trouble."

Zhan was transferred to Shanghai Women's Prison in March 2021. The authorities continue to refuse to visit her family. "We should seek the truth and seek it at all costs," said Zhan. “Truth has always been the most expensive thing in the world. It's our life. "

Amnesty International is working to get China to release Zhan immediately.

#china #human rights # covid-19 #journalism

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